Eastern Sierra: A backpack to Pioneer Basin

A sign buried in snow at Mono Pass in late August.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

A backpacker approaches Summit Lake after crossing 12,000-foot Mono Pass, en route to Pioneer Basin.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Footing was tricky for pack station horses and mules above Trail Lake near the Mono Recesses area of the Eastern Sierra.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Alpenglow at sunset from a campsite at the lowest lake in Pioneer Basin in the Eastern Sierra.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Wildflowers abound near a small lake near the second lake in Pioneer Basin.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Trout, possibly a rainbow/golden hybrid, caught on a nymph fly at a lake in Pioneer Basin.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

View of Mono Recesses from the fourth lake in Pioneer Basin.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Ruby Lake viewed from Mono Pass Trail, above Little Lakes Valley.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

Creek running through a meadow above the Trail Lakes near the Mono Recesses area of the Eastern Sierra.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)

A waterfall spills into Fourth Recess Lake in the Eastern Sierra in late August.  (Julie Sheer/Los Angeles Times)